More Than Just a Guardian
by Jeune Ecrivain
Summary: Claire reflects on how her (and Owen's) stewardship of Maisie evolves over the weeks, months, and perhaps even years after Fallen Kingdom. Not necessarily a sequel to "Third Time's the Charm," but broadly if not entirely compatible with it.


**More Than Just a Guardian**

**By Jeune Ecrivain**

**Rating: T**

**Summary: Claire reflects on how her (and Owen's) stewardship of Maisie evolves over the weeks, months, and perhaps even years after Fallen Kingdom. Not necessarily a sequel to "Third Time's the Charm," but broadly if not entirely compatible with it.**

**A/N: I had originally intended for this to be an even longer one-shot, but I reached a really good stopping point and decided to publish what I had so far as the first installment in two- or maybe even three-shot story. Given the theme (motherhood), I wish I could've pinned down my muse in time for Mother's Day, but better late than never!  
**

Motherhood snuck up on Claire Dearing in a way that it rarely does for women. There was no nine-month period during which her very body would transform itself in order to incubate new life growing within. There was no sudden bursting of an amniotic dam followed by a few hours of very painful yet ultimately very rewarding labor. There was not even the much less physically taxing suite of courtroom visits and signing of adoption documents, at least not yet. There was no clearly delineated moment that could be identified as transforming her into a mother. Yet here she was.

Guardianship was one thing. Very soon after the disastrous release of live dinosaurs on the American mainland, the US government had promptly put both Claire and Owen through a battery of interrogation and deposition until they finally determined that no formal charges would be levied against them. In comparison, subsequently procuring legal stewardship of Maisie was definitely the less harrowing process, even with the added complication of keeping the child's true origin under wraps. Officially, Claire and Owen were her foster parents. That seemed like the best option if they wanted their status to be at least semi-permanent. This came with a monthly stipend from the state, but from day one, the two adults made it clear to their young ward that they would have taken her in even without a cent of government support, even if their financial security was more tenuous than it was.

As it happened, Claire had managed to not only salvage but reinvigorate the DPG. Ironically, the disaster had enabled some people to stumble upon some of the dinosaurs themselves, and at least with the more harmless species, such personal sightings garnered broader support, as many came to see them as actual living creatures rather than static figureheads in sensationalized newsfeeds. Meanwhile, both Claire and Owen were also promptly recruited by the government shortly after their acquittal, as their accumulated experience and insight was deemed indispensable, even if a bit begrudgingly. For Claire, this meant some subsidization of her job at the DPG, and for Owen, it meant a rather generous salary as one of the principal leaders of the containment operation. Nevertheless, Claire especially had done her best to negotiate for as much "family time" (for lack of a better term) as she felt she could get without pressing their luck beyond breaking point. The last thing Maisie needed was for the two people she arguably depended on most for both financial and emotional support to be constantly away at work. On top of that, the two adults were also attempting to rebuild their own relationship after deciding to give it a third try.

As the three of them settled into Claire's San Francisco apartment, what could have easily been an awkwardly crowded situation turned out to be rather cozy. Initially grateful at having a spare bedroom for Maisie, Claire wondered even on their first night together if there was really much point to it. For roughly the first two weeks, Maisie would reliably wake up screaming in terror, haunted by memory-fueled nightmares of the Indoraptor. Still nursing a gravely wounded leg, Claire would envy the speed with which Owen could dash into Maisie's room as she hobbled her way behind him, though at the same time, she could not help but simultaneously admire the compassion evident in the immediacy with which he rushed to her side and the gentle tones in which he soothed the young girl's fears.

For the first few nights, Maisie would apologize repeatedly for having woken them up, but neither Claire nor Owen were having any of that. "Listen to me, Maisie," Claire remembered saying as she turned the child's head to face her. "I would feel much worse if I found out you were suffering through your nightmares all by yourself. Besides, helping you deal with this stuff is probably helping us cope too."

"So in a way, you're doing us a favor, kiddo," Owen had said, meeting Claire's gaze briefly with his own before addressing Maisie again. "Claire's right. I don't care what time it is. You never have to do this alone. If you need us, we'll be here. I'd rather be a little sleep-deprived than find out you've been toughing this stuff out by yourself. It's not healthy. At times like this, it's especially important that you count on the people you trust. You trust us, right?"

Maisie nodded without hesitation, which made Claire smile and add, "Then trust us when we tell you we don't mind helping you through this, even in the wee hours of the night. Okay?"

Claire was genuinely relieved when the tearful apologies stopped, and she suspected that Owen was too.

After the first week, in a phone conversation with her sister Karen, Claire had a sudden idea that she contemplated aloud right then and there. Her youngest nephew Gray had been only a year older than Maisie when very similar horrors had befallen him, so perhaps Maisie would benefit from having someone like him to talk to about her experience. After briefly discussing it with Owen and asking Gray himself, who immediately agreed, they put him into mutual contact with Maisie. They had just bought her a smartphone of her own anyway, and Gray's number was the first besides those of her foster parents to be added to the contacts list.

"We don't mind you coming to us at all, and don't ever feel like you can't do that anymore," Owen was quick to clarify when they introduced the idea to Maisie, "but Gray was about your age when the Indominus fiasco happened, so he may be able to help you in ways that we can't."

Both adults looked on carefully when Karen visited and brought her youngest son over to meet Maisie in person. The girl was predictably shy at first, but Gray's kind and easygoing demeanor as they made small talk eventually managed to elicit a small smile or two from her. Gray was sensitive enough not to initiate any discussion of their respective traumas himself and instead let Maisie take the lead. When Karen and Gray finally had to leave, the closest the 13-year-old came to any serious topics was to say, "Call me anytime you need to talk, okay? And I do mean anytime." He then leaned in towards the 9-year-old with a mischievous grin, as if conspiring with her. "I'm a bit of a night owl anyway, so I could use the excuse."

Karen rolled her eyes, but Claire barely noticed as she beamed at the sight of Maisie actually letting a soft giggle escape her lips. It would not be the last time, and Claire found herself smiling every subsequent time she happened to catch Maisie talking on the phone with Gray, even when the conversation touched on the topic of dinosaur attacks or Maisie's lingering guilt over having released the captive creatures without fully realizing the implications. In fact, Claire was rendered especially content when she realized Maisie had grown comfortable enough to discuss such things with him. Occasionally, she would even be blessed with the sight of a full-fledged smile or laugh from the child at something Gray said.

In the meantime, as Owen's new job started calling him away more often and for longer stretches, he had the foresight to look for more ways for Maisie to entertain herself, as she clearly worried about him chasing after large and dangerous animals. Both he and Claire recognized early on that she definitely had a nerdy side, with a particular predilection for the sciences. So he bought her a hardback book so thick it would have made a less scholarly child run away screaming: the Dorling-Kingsley Visual Encyclopedia of Science. Much to both his and Claire's delight, she genuinely appreciated it and would not infrequently be seen perusing its pages with rapt focus.

That book ended up precipitating what Claire should have recognized as the first milestone in the evolution of her relationship with Maisie. She was a bit perplexed when she looked up from some DPG paperwork one day to find the young girl standing in her doorway clutching the volume, open to a particular page. The youngster jumped when Claire spotted her, and the elder woman silently wondered how long she had been standing there before being noticed.

"Hey, Maisie! Did you need something?" Claire asked with a warm smile through slightly narrowed eyes, sensing at least a touch of nervousness from the youngster and curious as to its cause.

"Um, I'm not sure," Maisie said. "I can't imagine why this book would be wrong about anything, but still…this can't be right. It's so…ugh!" she shuddered, almost as if her skin were crawling.

The redheaded woman stole a glance at the page to which the book was open, but even as the child stepped closer, she could only discern that the diagrams were vaguely anatomical and/or physiological. As her young ward drew even nearer, she angled the book closer to her chest. "Well," said Claire, "there are several things about the human body that can really creep us out when we really think about them. Which one is this?"

"Well, a kid gets half of its DNA from the mom and half from the dad, right? But I've always wondered: if the baby grows inside the mom, how does the dad's DNA ever get in there?"

_Oh, crap._ Claire did her best not to look like a deer in headlights.

"I've tried asking Iris a couple of times, but she would always change the subject."

This observation lent credence to Owen and Claire's shared suspicion that Maisie had led a very sheltered life prior to the debacle at Lockwood Manor, especially with an elderly nanny who seemed to be something of a traditionalist.

"So I looked it up in here," Maisie continued, "but the answer I got just seems tailor-made to creep me out! I mean, is this a joke or something?"

_Yep. I'm going to kill Owen._ Claire inwardly reasserted herself and gently reached for the book. "Let me see, Maisie." The gesture was more for the child's sake than for her own. She had little doubt that the book would accurately convey the truth of human reproduction. Still, when the child freely handed the tome over, even she was a little taken aback at how explicit the diagrams were; very clinical, to be sure, but still leaving little to the imagination. She pursed her lips and made a show of being thorough in her examination before handing the book back to her. "Yep, it's all there. That really is how it works, sweetie. Sometimes truth is just stranger than fiction. The technical term for it is 'sexual intercourse,' but people mostly just call it 'sex' for short."

"But it's so gross!"

Claire blinked and failed to resist blurting, "Please keep thinking that for as long as you can." With that seemingly cathartic remark, she chuckled as the worst of her own awkwardness dissipated so that she could focus on easing Maisie's. "Because even though it may be hard to believe now, there will come a time in just a few years when the idea will probably start to grow on you."

Maisie crinkled her nose. "But why?"

Claire decided to approach the topic in a language the child clearly understood: science."Well, you know we evolved from other animals, right?"

"Of course. We're apes."

"Well, think about it. The ultimate goal of any species is to make more of themselves and to spread their genes, right?"

Maisie nodded.

"Well, if nature didn't make sex feel good, and if animals didn't evolve a natural urge to have sex, then they wouldn't do it, so they wouldn't reproduce and they wouldn't be able to spread their genes."

"So when I get older, I'll actually want to have sex? And it'll actually feel good?"

Claire braced herself, knowing this would likely be the most delicate part of the conversation, and proceeded slowly. "Yes, you'll have urges, and yes, it definitely can feel wonderful if you do it with the right person under the right circumstances. But Maisie, the important thing to remember about sex is that it's very easy to get that last part wrong. The urge to do it is instinctive, but we have to learn how to handle it responsibly. If you do it with the wrong person or under the wrong circumstances, at the very least, someone's feelings can get hurt. You could also catch a disease or end up having a baby before you're at all prepared to raise a kid." She paused, relieved that she had at least gotten this far without any obvious blunders. "Sex is…like fire. Use it right, and it'll warm you up on a cold day. Use it wrong, and you can very easily get burned, sometimes pretty badly. A lot of people make it out to be a bad thing, but it's really not, or at least, it doesn't have to be. It can be a very good thing. You just need to know how to be safe and responsible about it. Do you understand?"

Maisie nodded again, visibly more comfortable with the conversation. "I think so. I always knew there was something there that made adults feel weird talking about it, especially Iris. I guess now I know why. Maybe they just wanted to make sure I was old enough and responsible enough before they told me."

Claire smiled at the child's perceptiveness. "Yeah, probably. But listen, Maisie, I want you to know that you don't have to be shy about discussing this stuff. It's important that you feel comfortable asking questions and expressing your feelings in this area. In a few years, you'll probably learn more about sex in health class at school, but you don't have to wait for that if you don't want to. I'm always here, and so is Owen." Claire felt a bit presumptuous for including Owen on his behalf, but even if it was awkward, she had little doubt that he would ultimately agree, and in any case, she mused that it actually served him right for blindsiding her with an impromptu birds-and-bees talk, however inadvertent it may have been.

Maisie paused before speaking up. "So I guess this means I really do have only a few years left before I start bleeding from my privates every month.

Claire could not help but laugh at Maisie managing to make the onset of menstruation sound almost like the impending institution of a regular chore. "Oh, you read that part too, did you? Well, like I said, if you need help getting used to it, I'll be here for you. Just remember. Don't be afraid to talk about this with adults you trust. Okay?"

Maisie nodded once more, and with that, she seemed content enough to utter a soft, "Thanks," before taking the book and walking away, presumably to do more reading. Claire let out a long sigh of relief. She would never presume to claim that she had handled that masterfully by any means, but she had definitely fared better than she likely would have anticipated, at least given the complete lack of premeditation. Although Maisie still looked bewildered by what was to her a bizarre new truth, she seemed neither scarred nor confused, and that was the best that Claire could ask for. There was much more for her to learn, of course, but that would come in time and at Maisie's own pace. For now, Claire was satisfied with the foundation she had lain.

But she was still going to kill Owen.

**A/N: Honestly, I think the whole birds-and-bees talk scenario is something of an old-fashioned cliché at this point, but I thought it was worth exploring even if only for the sake of humor. Plus, there is a kernel of truth to this story, since it's based on how I recall first learning about where babies come from.**


End file.
